


Get a Clue

by Emma Grant (emmagrant01)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Hogwarts Era, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-01-07
Updated: 2006-01-07
Packaged: 2018-10-27 13:02:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10809576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmagrant01/pseuds/Emma%20Grant
Summary: Harry and Cedric sitting in a tree…





	Get a Clue

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).

  
Author's notes: Written as a deleted scene from the GOF film. See the art that inspired it, by Lizardspots: http://www.livejournal.com/users/lizardspots/154130.html  


* * *

"Harry!"  
  
The whispered voice seemed to come out of nowhere. Harry spun around, looking for it.  
  
"Harry! Up here!"  
  
Harry looked up. Cedric Diggory was sitting in a tree with a boy Harry recognized as the seventh year Hufflepuff who scarcely left Cedric's side. Ron had taken to calling him 'The Bodyguard'.  
  
Harry glanced around the courtyard again before responding. "What?"  
  
"Come up here, that's what." Cedric waved his hand in a beckoning gesture.  
  
Harry hesitated. In the midst of the Tri-wizard Tournament, should he really be seen up a tree with Cedric Diggory, the _official_ Hogwarts champion? Sure, the _Potter Stinks_ badges were less visible after the first task, but he'd tried hard these last few weeks to avoid anything that might cause him trouble. Besides, he was still a bit sore that Cedric had been the one to take Cho Chang to the Yule Ball.  
  
"Why?" he asked in the same hoarse whisper, despite the fact that no one was in the courtyard.  
  
"Just come up, will you?" Cedric replied.  
  
Harry stared at him. Cedric had one of those faces that was easy to read, and he didn't look like he was up to anything. Even The Bodyguard looked annoyed rather than sneaky or plotting. Harry set his jaw. Fine. If he was about to be hexed, at least Cedric had the nerve to do it in the middle of the courtyard. It couldn't be any worse than Malfoy's last attempt to hex him behind his back, and the entire school knew what _that_ had got him. No one had dared mess with Harry since. He smirked at the memory.  
  
"All right, fine," he said, glancing around. No one was watching, so he climbed the tree and settled awkwardly on a thick branch beside The Bodyguard, who gave him a hard look.  
  
"Go on, Nigel," Cedric said, staring right at Harry. "I want to talk to Harry alone."  
  
Nigel made a huffing noise, then slid off the branch and floated gracefully to the ground. He cast one vicious look at Harry before stalking away.  
  
"What's with him?" Harry asked, though he hardly needed to ask. Cedric's friends had been particularly nasty towards him ever since his name had come out of the Goblet of Fire. He hadn't expected them to stop anytime soon.  
  
"He'll get over it," Cedric replied with a grin. He scooted down the branch to sit closer to Harry. "I just wanted… I never got a chance to thank you properly for telling me about the dragons."  
  
"Oh," Harry replied, leaning back a bit -- Cedric was quite close. "It was nothing. I'm sure you would have done the same."  
  
"Yeah," Cedric replied, leaning closer still. "How old are you, Harry? You're a fourth year, right?"  
  
"I'm fourteen." Harry blinked at him. "Three years too young to be in the Tournament, actually, which is why I didn't--"  
  
"Didn't put your name in, right," Cedric said. His lips curled into a smile, the one that always made the girls giggle. "Fourteen? You'd never know it. You did very well in the first task."  
  
"Thanks," Harry replied, swallowing down a sudden flush of awkwardness. It might be the middle of winter, but it was oddly warm in this tree. Cedric had probably charmed it. Harry looked up at him and they stared at each other for a moment.  
  
Cedric's smile widened a fraction. "You're completely adorable."  
  
"What"? Harry asked, startled.  
  
"Adorable," Cedric repeated, grinning. "Everyone says so. Cho spoke of little else during the Ball, actually. She thinks you're quite sweet, you know."  
  
"Really?" Harry began, then paused, realizing he was treading on dangerous ground. "I mean, oh. Okay." A breeze blew through the tree, ruffling them both.  
  
"Don't be coy, Harry," Cedric said, reaching out to pick a dried leaf from Harry's hair. "You must know that everyone thinks it."  
  
"Everyone?" Harry retorted, shivering at the sensation of Cedric's fingers brushing his cheek. "That's not true, and you know it. Half the school hates me."  
  
"They don't," Cedric said, shrugging. "Not anymore, anyway. Most of them think you're just in a bad spot at the moment." Harry snorted in response, and Cedric gave him an odd smile. "So you're fourteen, then. Have you ever kissed anyone?"  
  
"No," Harry said, feeling an unwelcome flip somewhere in his belly. Was this a joke? "I suppose you have." He'd probably kissed Cho, even.  
  
Cedric grinned again. His hand cupped Harry's jaw and he tugged him forward gently. Harry sat stunned for a moment, and then drew back so quickly he nearly lost his balance.  
  
"Steady there!" Cedric said, grasping him about the shoulders. "I didn't mean to startle you."  
  
"I… you…" Harry began, and then realized he was turning bright pink. "Were you about to… _kiss_ me?"  
  
Cedric's lips twisted. "Maybe. Would you like me to kiss you?"  
  
"This is a trick, isn't it?" Harry replied, feeling himself grow even redder under Cedric's gaze. "You're trying to make me look like I--"  
  
"Like boys?" Cedric interrupted. He sat up a little straighter. "There's nothing wrong with it, you know."  
  
"No, of course not," Harry said, blinking at him. "That's not what I was going to--"  
  
"You honestly think I would go to all the trouble of cornering you for a private snog so I could tell the rest of the school you're a poof? Is that what you think?"  
  
"No!" Harry protested, running a hand through his hair nervously. "That's not it at all."  
  
"I'd just be doing the same to myself, you know," Cedric retorted, turning away.  
  
Harry opened his mouth, and then paused. Several images ran through his mind at once: Cedric rolling in the grass, laughing and roughhousing with other boys; Cedric emerging from a dark corner looking disheveled and flushed, along with another boy looking much the same; Cedric throwing his arms around a friend and kissing him on the cheek. Come to think of it, the only time Harry had ever seen Cedric with a girl was at the Ball.  
  
"So you… like boys, then?" Harry asked. He picked nervously at the bark under his fingers.  
  
"Yes," Cedric replied. It almost sounded as if he were admitting it aloud for the first time.  
  
"Why didn't you take one to the Yule Ball, then?" Harry asked.  
  
Cedric turned back to face him, a look of surprise on his face. "It wouldn't have been… I mean, I couldn't have done."  
  
"Would it have been that big a deal?" Harry asked.  
  
Cedric gave him an appraising look before saying, "Yes, Harry. It would. Why do you think I snog boys in dark corners and tree branches?"  
  
"But everybody does that," Harry replied, shrugging. "I mean, some people do it out in the open, but most people like a bit of privacy. Well, not that I would know, but…" He picked at the bark between them a moment more. It was odd how much easier it was to talk to a boy about such things than a girl. He could just _say_ things to Cedric, and it didn't feel weird.  
  
He paused as a thought occurred to him. Did Cedric think Harry liked boys as well?  
  
Harry bit his lip. He hadn't given the matter much thought. Uncle Vernon had always said you could tell who _they_ were just by looking at them. Maybe Cedric had seen something in him, something Harry hadn't yet seen in himself.  
  
He looked up at Cedric again. "So is that why you brought me up here?"  
  
"Partly," Cedric replied. His voice was still a little cool. "Have you made any progress with your egg yet?"  
  
"No." Harry felt a stab of disappointment.  
  
Cedric gave him an appraising look, and then smiled. "Do you know the prefect's bath on the fifth floor? It can be a great spot to relax and mull things over. You should take your egg and go up there." He raised an eyebrow.  
  
Harry paused, confused. Was Cedric trying to ask him out? Was he inviting Harry for a swim in the notorious prefect's bath, all alone? It couldn't be a clue about his egg -- that made no sense. Unless Cedric wanted something in return for the clue…  
  
Harry coughed, startled by his own thoughts. "Look, Cedric… I do like you, and I'm not averse to the idea of snogging a boy, but I'm not sure I'm ready for anything like _that_. So if you don't mind, I'd rather you just kiss me here and give me the clue and we'll… take it from there."  
  
Cedric laughed, his breath escaping in little puffs of steam. "Oh, Harry, I didn't mean anything like _that_. And I already gave you the clue."  
  
Harry was sure he'd just turned bright red. "Oh. Right."  
  
"But I will kiss you, if you want." Cedric raised an eyebrow at him, and Harry managed to move his head in something like a non-committal nod in response.  
  
 _I've gone mad_ , he thought.  
  
Cedric seemed to stare at him for a long time before leaning forward at last and brushing Harry's lips with his own. They were surprisingly soft, though it wasn't what he'd thought a kiss would be like at all. He'd seen older kids snogging in dark corners and it always looked a bit messier than this. And there was usually tongue involved, wasn't there?  
  
Harry opened his mouth hesitantly and let the tip of his tongue brush Cedric's lips. _I'm doing it all wrong_ , he thought.  
  
Cedric moaned, and then Harry's mouth was invaded by something slick and hot and wet, and he thought he would've fallen right off the branch if it weren't for Cedric's hands on his shoulders, keeping him upright. Harry had no idea if Cedric was a good kisser, but it certainly _felt_ good with their lips mashed together and their tongues sliding and wet, almost frantic. He had no idea how long they kissed like that; he only knew that he'd made a funny noise when Cedric had caught his tongue between his lips and had done something to it that made Harry's trousers get a little tight, and that Cedric had clutched his shoulder even more tightly when Harry'd caught his lower lip and sucked it a little.  
  
After what could have been hours, they heard voices. Cedric pulled away, glancing down at the ground. "Someone's coming," he said, then looked back at Harry.  
  
Harry wiped the back of his hand across his mouth -- he'd been right about the messy part -- and shifted on the branch, hoping Cedric wouldn't notice his body had reacted so strongly to a simple kiss.  
  
Cedric grinned at him. "I should go," he said in a hoarse whisper, "before anyone sees us up here. They'll think we're conspiring." He winked at Harry and slid forward on the branch as if about to jump down.  
  
"Thanks," Harry said, though he wasn't certain that was what one ought to say to the person who gave you your first kiss. "For the hint about the egg."  
  
Cedric smiled, then looked down at the ground before leaning over to press a quick kiss to Harry's mouth. "Anytime."  
  
And with that, he dropped to the ground and jogged away.  
  
Harry watched him disappear from view, then settled back against the trunk of the tree. He pressed his fingers against his lips and felt a jolt in his belly at the memory of the kiss. He'd liked it, much more than he'd expected to do. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.  
  
But he definitely wanted to kiss Cedric again -- that much was certain.  
  


* * *

  
  
~ _fin_ ~


End file.
